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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: content · court · pop · patient · cabinet · bat · sharp · board

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. sharp — clever
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. board — a committee
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. court — of a king
  7. pop — soda
  8. pop — to visit
  9. content — the amount
  10. board — to get on
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. court — for sport
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. court — of law
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. content — happy
  24. board — a flat piece

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com